The plane’s pilot USAF Lieutenant Robert Elliott, walked away unscathed after its engines cutout during a training flight.

He was trying to make an emergency landing at the RAF airfield at Llanbedr in September 1942.

In a tragic twist, Lt Elliott was killed a few weeks later in North Africa.

High tides had washed away layers of sand to reveal the plane’s wings, and it was found by a passerby in the spring of 2007.

Experts from the USA have visited the site and confirmed there are no other examples left of the aircraft in Europe.

The funding will support an archaeological geophysical survey of the site using ground penetrating radar. The findings will not only provide more information on the aircraft but will inform whether it can be designated as a scheduled ancient monument, offering it protection in future.

"I am pleased that through these grants we are already supporting exciting conservation projects right across Wales, which will lead the way in protecting our past for the Wales of tomorrow.”

Other projects awarded grants include the installation of new interpretation boards at Ffynnon Beuno, a holy well in Gwynedd associated with St Beuno and claimed to cure epilepsy; Brymbo Iron Works in Wrexham, where works will be carried out to make repairs and improve public access; Pont Scethin near Barmouth where work will restore the bridge’s original appearance and assure its long-term conservation.